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Today i took out the Hypnotist for a little cleaning after the weekend flight and noticed a strange tear on the LE pocket at the APA LS fittings level. Looks like the APA just move down and push hard on the LE pocket that it starts to rip it. I assemble the kite to see what could be doing this and i can see the APA has a tendency to drop (Spring effect) to the wingtip and push on the sail/leading edge during flight.The most strange thing is that is does this only in the right side of the kite. The left side is OK and no wears.I attached a photo for you to diagnose the issue

Anyone knows what can be causing this? This part is a bit hard to fix. Perhaps some ca glue between the layers to stop it ripping off longer can help.

Also someone told me the opening in the pocket for the APA fitting is too short in length. He suggested about 2" in length. The actual length is about 1.25" on the Hypnotist.Can we cut it a bit more to avoid this?

Yep, the stoppers are missing, there should be some small rings glued to the spars right below those fittings. That's a common problem with many kites, the glue doesn't hold. If you feel around you may find them down inside the leading edge, if not the easiest fix without taking anything apart are the C-Clips and some Super Glue, they snap over the spar, just put some glue in them and snap them on. Make sure you keep the fabric well away during the drying process so you don't glue it to the spar.

Alternatives are to cut small rings off an end cap or some vinyl tubing from your hardware store or rubber vacuum hose from the auto parts store. Steve also has the heat shrink tubing with glue in them that Prism uses on many of their kites, but you must take the spars out to use it. You can split the rings cut from vinyl or rubber tubing and glue them in place like a C-Clip in a pinch, it's not as secure as a full ring but functional just keep an eye on them.

Those cut outs are a bit short but you'll have to take the spars out to make them larger. They need to be hot cut or they will fray easily again. That's more a cosmetic repair then a required repair right now, once you cure the sliding fittings problem you shouldn't experience much if any continued ripping or fraying, a bit of Super Glue on the frays will halt that until you want to make it pretty again. When you're ready to tackle the cosmetic repair take the spars out and make an inside template that will remove the frayed and ripped areas, then a small soldering iron or wood burning iron will hot cut a new larger cut out. That will melt the layers together so you'll probably have to carefully cut between them with an Exacto Knife. Better then new once done.

« Last Edit: October 19, 2011, 07:52 AM by mikenchico »

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Thanks Mikenchico for the tips..I just pushed up some heat shrink below the APA fittings and make sure it remains in place.Now have to go to the field for some testing..Hope this work but if it slips again and the heat shrink thing is not enough, i'll glue something on the spar.My main issue is that with this method it tends to be more difficult for me to remove the LLE as the heat shrink is just as the same diameter as the LE pocket and sometimes it's a pain moving it back to remove the LEE from the ferule. Also anyone can confirm if i can cut a bit the pocket and make it longer for the APA fittings not to be almost same size. Giving it more length i mean.

What I found has worked best is to take a slice from a vinyl end cap, put some CA on it and stick it onto the spar above and below the APA connector. This kite has been flown and crashed by many new flyers and it hasn't moved on either side. I think it looks much better than a big C-clip hanging off the side.

On the downside, they are harder to remove than an actual C-clip (but I found the C clips much more likely to 'pop off'). Still, easy to get off - just grab hold of a corner with a pair of plyers and pull it off (you will have to cut a new one for the replacement).

I don't know that any of the hypnotists have stoppers... mine didn't so I added some. I just used C clips and a spot of glue. I believe the reason for such a small leading edge cutout on these kites was to keep the APA in place (although at the expense of the leading edge integrity).

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